Barr mess at ICE?should be fully investigated

September 5, 2012

Too often, investigations of misbehavior by government officials end once they resign, frequently maintaining their innocence.

Suzanne Barr, formerly chief of staff at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, did just that last week.

Barr, a longtime aide to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, is accused of "inappropriate sexual behavior." It includes at least one incident in which Barr allegedly propositioned an ICE employee.

Allegations of harassment also are part of complaints by three ICE personnel.

On Saturday, Barr resigned, claiming the allegations are unfounded. Holding to the pattern established years ago by government officials under fire for character issues, Barr insisted she was leaving to keep the complaints from "distracting from our critical work."

If anything, behavior such as Barr is accused of is distracting to ICE employees. Allowing her to walk away unscathed makes such conduct more likely to occur in the future, by other government officials.

Congress should insist on a full investigation of complaints against Barr. If she is found to have committed the acts of which she is accused, she should be punished for them.